Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and party leaders will travel to Brussels today for talks with the EU on measures aimed at staving off bankruptcy for the island.

The delegation will depart at lunchtime and return to Cyprus late on Saturday or on Sunday, the official CNA news agency has reported.

The trip comes a day ahead of a deadline to adopt measures aimed at raising 5.8bn euros (£4.9bn) in order to secure a 10bn euro bailout.

The Cypriot parliament has approved a number of measures designed to restructure the economy and raise funds in order to secure the bailout.

MPs have voted in favour of a "national solidarity fund" - which would nationalise pension funds, with bonds issued against future natural gas revenues - and capital controls to prevent a run on the island's troubled banks.

They also backed legislation to permit the restructuring of troubled banks to prevent their collapse.

Protest outside the parliament building in the capital Nicosia

The first of the package of measures were agreed shortly after it emerged Cyprus was reportedly considering a levy of up to 25% on all bank deposits over 100,000 euros as its attempt to secure a rescue for the economy.

The original terms of the EU bailout for Cyprus proposed by the troika of international lenders would have slapped a levy on all bank deposits - 6.75% on accounts holding up to 100,000 euros and 9.9% on those over that - in order to raise the 5.8bn euros.

But that was overwhelmingly rejected by MPs earlier in the week, leaving them less than a week to find a "Plan B" with which to raise the cash.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has said it will only guarantee assistance until Monday night without a new aid programme being in place.

Cyprus state television reported the levy, albeit in a revised form, was now back on the table in negotiations with eurozone lenders after other attempts to secure funding had failed.

Banks in Cyprus have been shut since last Friday and will stay closed until next Tuesday amid fears that the ongoing crisis will prompt a run on them.

Cash machines have seen long queues as customers have tried to get at least some of their savings out of the stricken banking system.